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ADELAIDE superstar Patrick Dangerfield will only remain at the club if he feels it is on track for top-four success.

Dangerfield falls out of contract at the end of season 2015 and would attract heavy interest from rival sides as a free agent if the AFL reduces the number of years required to qualify for free agency from eight to seven.

The 23-year-old acting co-captain told Fairfax Media he wouldn't simply re-sign with the Crows for money, but would need to be convinced the club was headed in the right direction.

"When I do [re-sign] it will be a decision based on success not on money, that’s for sure,’’ Dangerfield said.

‘‘I’m one of those players who want to know the direction of the club. I’m always asking David Noble (the Crows list manager and strategic boss) about where we are at, because clearly there has been a lot of talk here about the problems we’ve had.

‘‘We lose Kurt Tippett for nothing and then first and second-round draft picks for two years and it makes it a lot more difficult to have success."

The superstar's comments came after his side was unable to replicate its 2012 form last season, slumping to an 11th-placed finish.

Dangerfield said the loss of Kurt Tippett to the Sydney Swans in late 2012 and Taylor Walker to injury in early 2013 severely hampered the club's ability to compete last year.

However Dangerfield said and his teammates had returned to training in the build up to 2014 with a greater hunger for success.

‘‘I don’t think any team can lose two key forwards the way we did in one year.

"It makes it really difficult. We just didn’t have the big body effect of a key forward up there.

‘‘I do think we came back to this pre-season with a far greater hunger than we did in 2013. I don’t know if some players just thought it was going to happen again, it’s hard to explain why that happens.’’